February 6
Daily Gleanings of the Saintly LifeSecond Day of January
Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. Psalms 81:10.
As is the longing so is the gift. The wider the mouth of the soul is opened by thirsting desire for God, the more largely will He fill it. Our capacity to receive Him is our longing for Him. The greater the hunger of the soul after righteousness, the more will He feed and satisfy it Who is our righteousness. And so whenever God would draw near to man, He would have man prepare for that awful nearness. We cannot on the instant change our whole tone of mind. We cannot at one moment care for earth, the next heaven; at one love the creature for itself, the next the Creator for Himself; at one love vanity, at the next eternity. Nature itself tells us that we cannot pass suddenly from one to another. If we have heavy news to convey, we try to prepare the mind, that they burst not at once upon it. Sudden joy has often taken away life or reason.
How hast Thou set around me every good, That it might lead to Thee! yea, in all It is Thyself that hast around me stood, In all I hear Thee speak, I hear Thy call Bidding me seek again a Father's hall; To walk the waves to Thee amid the gloom: O hold me by Thy Hand, for if I fall I fall for ever—unto Thee I come, Thou art Thyself alone our everlasting home.
Thou art Thyself alone the living Way, Which in our darkness grows more manifest And brightens unto Thee the perfect day; O lead a wandering exile to Thy Breast! O let a troubled heart in Thee find rest! Thou didst behold me ere I yet was born; My infant cries were unto Thee addrest, And taught by Thee: Thy rays did then adorn A dewdrop in the light of never-ending morn.